Folks can donate to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeastern Virginia just for showing up at a local auto dealership on Thursday.

The Ford Motor Company will give $10 per person who shows up at Beach Ford on North Main Street between 6 and 8 p.m. Thursday, up to a total of $500. The dealership will match the company donation for a potential total of $1,000.

“We thought it was a worthwhile cause,” said Bob Barton of Beach Ford. “We’re looking forward to this event. We think it’s going to be very exciting.”

Barton said the event is happening at most Ford dealers in North America. The company wanted to “create one special night as an event for dealers giving back to their communities,” Barton said.

“Dealers usually do a pretty good job of that anyway, but the fact Ford is doing it on a national level is pretty cool,” he said. “Some (dealerships) are choosing maybe more well-known, bigger, national charities. We wanted to go with something that was more local to Suffolk.”

People who come to the event can audition to be a guest judge on “American Idol,” register to win a 2013 Ford Fusion and test-drive new products, Barton said. But they don’t have to do any of that to get $10 donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs for their participation.

“They can just show up,” Barton said.

The Boys and Girls Clubs, which has a unit in Suffolk, provides a safe place for kids to stay after school and during the summers and provides nutritious meals, educational programs and physical activity during the time the kids are at the club.

For more information on the event, call 539-1595. For more information on the Boys and Girls Clubs, visit www.bgcseva.org.